Casshern Sins – Episode 21

And so we return to Casshern Sins. After nineteen episodes of seeking, last episode saw Casshern and his companions finally making contact with the new Luna – but regardless of whatever Dune saw in her, it seems this Luna offers no salvation at all. Though she claims to heal those dying to Ruin, the people who come to her ultimately find themselves in a great mass grave. On top of this, Luna herself seems disgusted at the thought of decay, and would rather pave over the dying than witness their final days.

In contrast, Casshern has come to both value life and also see great dignity in death, having been forced to work with and come to care for many robots and humans across the course of this series. Casshern may not have any kind of healing touch, but he has the forward-looking perspective and hope you need in a prophet, if not in a savior. Even his design, a white canvas touched with red markings, now seems to echo his vitality, aligning him with the cyclical inevitability of blood. I don’t know what Casshern can do to save these people, but it’s great to see him determined to try. Let’s see what the future holds.

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Classroom of the Elite – Episode 8

Classroom of the Elite managed to sink to a variety of new lows this week, which is perhaps impressive in its own way, given the show is already hot garbage in all respects. I’ve basically lost all ability to extract any joy from watching this show be melodramatic, and am in minute-counting mode at this point. Some anime sure is bad.

You can check out my full review over at ANN.

Tsuredure Children – Episode 9

Tsuredure Children’s ninth episode seemed to be themed around “what do you do when your relationship’s moving backwards,” which resulted in a very realistic but kinda inevitably frustrating viewing experience. This cast is so charming that it’s tough watching them all screw up this badly. Good luck, Tsuredure kids!

You can check out my full review over at ANN.

Summer 2017 – Week 8 in Review

With My Hero Academia taking a week off before the final exam arc, there wasn’t all that much anime to actually watch this week. Made in Abyss maintained its usual speedy pacing and Classroom of the Elite was, er, itself, but that’s about all I’ve got to cover. I suppose it’s a good thing this week also had one last episode of Game of Thrones, or I’d be in real trouble filling out a reasonably article-length post for you all. But let’s start at the top with this week’s cartoons, and see where the rambling takes us!

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Chihayafuru – Episode 9

Let’s get back to Chihayafuru! Chihaya has her team now, the full squad of five necessary to actually make a club. In spite of that, her new crew haven’t really interacted in any meaningful ways yet – we’ve basically just put each character on the roster and then moved on to recruiting the next one. Chihayafuru’s heavy character focus makes me think we’re likely to see some bonding before we return to the initial love triangle, but that bonding could come in the form of any activity that forces the group to approach a challenge together, be it finding a faculty advisor or training for their first tournament. Either way, this last stage of Chihayafuru was an altogether strong one, so I’m ready for whatever’s next. Let’s get to it!

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Why It Works: A Monogatari Art Exhibition, Part One

Today on Crunchyroll, I’m embarking on another two-parter, this time cataloging the shifting art design of Monogatari. I’ve collected so many damn images of this series that at this point, it’s fun just to sift through my own personal galleries, picking out the best representations of all of Monogatari’s myriad visual styles. This article only gets through the Oishi Monogatari material, but there’s certainly more than enough to dig into there!

Why It Works: A Monogatari Art Exhibition, Part One

Tsuredure Children – Episode 8

This week’s Tsuredure Children was more focused on relationship progression than gags, but I’m already fully invested in these relationships, so I certainly didn’t mind that. The show’s balance of comedy and narrative would be impressive even if we were only focusing on one of these relationships – the fact that we’ve got so many couples and they’re all so strong is really something. Tsuredure Children continues to own this season.

Tsuredure Children – Episode 8

Classroom of the Elite – Episode 7

This week’s Classroom of the Elite was stupid in ways the show isn’t normally stupid, but not particularly surprising ways nonetheless. This was a goofy pool episode, meaning it was full of fanservice and even some jokes riffing on the show’s own usual absurdity. I’ve basically lost all expectations for this show, so eh. Do your thing, Classroom.

Classroom of the Elite – Episode 7

Summer 2017 – Week 7 in Review

The anime was all very respectable this week, maintaining an even course without really offering any major highlights or disappointments. Made in Abyss arrived at a necessary training arc, though given this show’s generally speedy pacing, that “arc” may just take one more episode. My Hero Academia was in exposition mode, but it still managed to offer some fun moments with the class. And Classroom of the Elite finally got as dramatically indulgent as it’s apparently always wanted to, topping off a series of grim inter-class showdowns with the introduction of some actual mad scientists. I complained about the show’s super hammy musical cues when I reviewed its first episode, but as it turns out, those musical cues turned out to be the only element of that episode that would truly indicate the show’s nature. But let’s start in the fringes of the abyss, and run this week down!

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Flip Flappers – Episode 2

Flip Flappers’ second episode begins with Cocona waking up in her bed, as if her adventure with Papika were all some strange dream. The sequence of shots here directly echoes the last time she woke up, further emphasizing the unreality of the moment – and even her glasses are intact. But beyond just casting doubt on the reality of the previous episode, this opening’s sequence of precisely repeated shots emphasizes Cocona’s sense of complacency in this life. In comparison with the first episode’s dreary tone, the frightening excitement of Pure Illusion now makes her everyday life seem like a kind of comfort.

And then Papika arrives, and so much for all that.

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